Cool, calm and quiet, Valtteri Bottas is championship material; all he needs is a competitive car. This seems to be the general consensus. Currently competing in his 4th season in Formula One; we will await the future with interest.

PERSONAL:

Born: 28/08/1989 in Nastola, Finland
Height: 1.73m
Lives: in Monaco
Net Worth: $1.3 million
 
“With F1, it’s really a combination of many things…it is not as simple as one thing. You need to be a complete athlete.”
 
valtteri bottas williams f1 driver

F1 RACING STATS:

Team: Williams-Mercedes
Car number: 77
Grand Prix Starts: 71 (72 entries)
Career points: 396
Podiums: 9
Fastest laps: 1
Highest grid position: 2
 
“Valtteri is quite simply one of the most talented young racing drivers I have come across and we expect great things from him in the future.” (Sir Frank Williams, 2013)

CAREER:

Karting: Began karting aged 6. Over 11 years he won several championships in Finland and Europe.
 
2007: Won 2 races and came 3rd in his debut season in Formula Renault 2.0 North European Cup.
 
2008: Won the Formula Renault Euro Cup and the Formula Renault Northern European Cup.
 
2009: Came 3rd in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Won the Masters of Formula 3 event, setting the fastest lap and taking pole.
 
2010: Won the Masters of Formula 3 for the second time; the first driver to do so. He took a further step towards Formula One when he became a test driver for Williams.
 
2011: Won the GP3 Series with Lotus ART Grand Prix (staying with the team he raced with in F3) dominating the last few races. He crashed out of the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix, while on course for the win.
 
2012: Took part in 15 FP1 sessions in Senna’s car. “It feels incredible to be driving in Formula 1 next season and to be with a team like Williams, with all its pedigree, is even more special.”
 
2013: Formula One for Williams, alongside Pastor Maldonado. The FW35’s lack of pace made it difficult to make his mark in his debut season – but he did well with what he had, managing to score 4 points by the end of the season. Commenting on his uncompetitive car, “Physics still exists, if you have a lighter car with less fuel it goes a bit quicker.”
 
2014: Team mate Felipe Massa. The William’s team moved to Mercedes power. With a more competitive car, Bottas finished 4th in the drivers’ championship with 6 podiums; 3 places and 50 points ahead of Massa. His skilful driving to hold off Lewis Hamilton for 2nd place at the German Grand Prix was one of the highlights.
 
2015: Even with a back injury, Bottas manage to achieve podiums at the Canadian and Mexican Grand Prixs; eventually finishing 5th in the drivers’ championship.
 
2016: Bottas is currently 7th in the drivers’ championship, with 1 podium – coming 3rd in Canada. He has suggested that Williams are struggling again this season, this time with tyre issues and this is costing them points. Will he have to leave Williams to reach his potential?